Vivid festival has ended as a spectacular success with a record-breaking attendance in Sydney, but behind the scenes the relationship between the popular event and photojournalism festival Reportage has soured amid accusations of censorship and breaches of contract.

The photographs were viewable, unrestricted, at various indoor exhibitions, however several high-profile photojournalists withdrew their work in protest at what they and the organisers of Reportage saw as censorship from the centrepiece display.

Much of the dispute centres on one clause of the agreement between Destination NSW and Reportage, which states that Reportage's exhibition must not bring the Vivid organisers or the state government "into disrepute" or "conflict with the brand" of the festival and its organisers.

"i.e. the Event elements must be family friendly, not of a violent nature and do not incite violence," the clause continues.

Acclaimed photojournalist James Nachtwey – whose famous, haunting image of a Rwandan genocide survivor bearing scars of a machete attack was on of the images pulled from the outdoor screen – told Guardian Australia this kind of photojournalism "discourages violence".

He said the photographers were selected for their integrity and commitment to human values, a free press and an informed citizenship.

"Too many of our colleagues have lost their lives because they believed it too," Nachtwey added.

"Their photographs show us the real consequences of violence, war, oppression and poverty. They identify problems that cry out to be corrected, but are too often silenced.

"When so much of popular culture – video games, movies, animated cartoons – exploits images of violence in order to entertain, yet makes violence appear devoid of consequences, the concern for potential damage to young people is misplaced by directing it at images by these photographers."

On one side of the dispute is the question of why Vivid engaged a festival which by its very nature is confronting, depicting violence more as a rule than as an exception, and which is rarely "family friendly".

Chipchase told Guardian Australia the partnership was seen as "a natural fit", given the number of photographers and videographers that visit Vivid.

"The original intention in partnering with Reportage for the outdoor screen was around presenting photos of public celebrations and festivals," she said.

On the other is why Reportage signed an agreement containing these requests, and which gave Vivid the ability to approve or rule out images it deemed in breach.

Reportage curator Stephen Dupont said the relationship with Vivid was "a matter of creative trust" in the beginning while they worked with former Vivid creative director Brenton Kewley and later Ignatius Jones. There was discussion about the imagery being checked but also a desire not to interfere with Reportage.

"We didn't go into details about what our festival had in terms of content back then," Dupont said.

It was ignoring these details which caused problems later when Chipchase decided not to allow some images on the large screens.

Australian photographer Andrew Quilty was one photographer who had images withdrawn from the outdoor screen show, and it is one image of his in particular that has left Reportage scratching their heads.

The photograph is of a burned and blackened, post-bushfire landscape.

In correspondence seen by Guardian Australia, Simpsons Solicitors, acting for Reportage said "our clients are at a loss to understand how such a photograph might be considered not family friendly".

Chipchase told Guardian Australia that recent bushfires which caused loss of life, property and livelihood are the reason they vetoed the image from the outdoor display.

"So images of this could distress some people and are not in keeping with the family-friendly brand values of Vivid."

Dupont said he did not know how much, if any, damage the dispute had done to Reportage's reputation, unless people "think we were behind the censoring. The damage has been really to the photographers."

Dupont said they would like to see Destination NSW "admit that they made a mistake" but was enthusiastic about partnering again.

"We would like to partner with Vivid again if we get the support we should have. It's a great festival. But I would not work with the same team if we were going to get the same reaction."

Chipchase said any future proposals to partner would be assessed on its merits.